I recently saw a documentary on the study of wolves made by a couple in Oregon. They had heavy packs but used no treking poles to traverse the mountain sides in search of wolves. The woman had a condition that caused her to have a great deal of pain in her feet. She could have benefited from having poles.

Actually..I use the poles more on the steep down trails to ease the shock on my knees of Washington's trails full of roots,boulders,and those Sasquatch sized steps.Downhill is tougher than uphill for me...but I do use my upper body/poles to help on the inclines and large steps that way also. The trails around the greater Seattle area are a lot worse than the ONP on the peninsula.I call those "zamboni" trails over there.. .That's what it looks like they groomed them with.I can hike an additional 50% per day over there with less overall effort. The "Mountain loop" area we normally hike around here has less maintenance,steeper trails(more switchbacks),more exposed cliffs,rock faces,and overall seems more rugged than the southern areas in the Puget Sound Basin or the peninsula..and it generally gets less traffic..which is why we go there.Usually the wife and I reach the trailheads at about 8am which means we usually don't see hardly anyone if at all until after lunch or noon..usually on OUR way back down..I can live with that.

The views and opinions expressed by this person are his own and not the general consensus of others on this website.Realityguy

Within 15 min or so of being on a trail I easily find a nice dry, bark free branch that I use as a staff for rough terrain. For some odd reason I like to have one hand free unencumbered to help pull myself up steep inclines/ravines etc. when off trails. I spend a lot of my time off trail wandering aimlessly looking for rare native plants. One staff works for me. On flat trails I carry the staff by it's center parralel to the ground till I get to a place where it's needed.

I used to find wood staffs along the trail also but the light weight of the trek poles and their quick length adjustibility have done away with the wood,especially when I use them for tent supports also.I generally carry two because most of my tents require two..but occasionally on more level day hikes I only take one.If I want "hands free",say for shooting a camera along a trail;I can collapse them for strapping them in or on the pack.On the other hand,they do make decent monopods,especially the ones made for that purpose with removable top knobs that unscrew for accessing a camera mount. They are also handy for poking goats and slower hikers..

The views and opinions expressed by this person are his own and not the general consensus of others on this website.Realityguy

If I'm hiking in the mountains, I always take two poles for the ups and downs to save the legs and knees. If I am hiking the trails at my local park , I don't use them as the terrain is only mildly hilly. I might take one of my curly sticks or staffs during shroom season. What really puzzles me is why people jog these grand trail systems to finish as quickly as possible. They miss so much the trail has to offer. To each their own, I guess.

"Many of lifes failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up".....Thomas Edison